Synchronicity
by SuzakuSama
Summary: Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. Vanille with Fang and Lightning NEAPOLITAN . GIFT FIC for lil mooki, ONE SHOT.


Author's Notes: GIFT FIC FOR lil_mooki, since she gifted my LJ with more icon space. In turn, I offered to write a fic. Her prompt was"Neapolitan: With alpha dominance and sexings? Light and Fang fight over Vanille."

TITLE taken from The Police: "Synchronicity" (two or more seemingly unrelated events occurring together in a meaningful manner)

* * *

Ahh, it was more free back then. The village was full of life all those years ago. How much time had passed? Rows of buildings, once new, shone in the sunlight; now they were dilapidated, torn, crumbled. The village -their home- were a mess of ruins now. Was it because Fang pierced Cocoon all those centuries ago? That somehow the damage was echoed right here on Gran Pulse, as some sick sort of symbiotic relationship between the two.

She sighed. By this point, she wouldn't be surprised. Oerba was deserted now, only a few crumbling buildings -once proud and tall- now bearing cracks, streaks of black marring the surface. And that was the view she saw once she walked from the outskirts of Taejin's Tower.

Luckily, the orphanage was in decent shape after centuries of neglect. Bhakti was alive and well, after Sazh fixed him up. At least one positive thing came out, after so many days of traveling around Gran Pulse and finding nothing to help the party. There were plenty of cie'th stones, former l'cie whose wills were lost in the path of fulfilling their focus. Yet they soldier on, empty shells of their former self, wanting to be in reach of the elusive goal. Sometimes she found herself thinking of the state of the Planet; it was falling apart at the seams.

But what could they do?

The party was settling for the night at their old orphanage, partly because of the wandering cie'th roaming around the village, and partly because she and Fang wanted to revisit their memories. It was nighttime, and she was on the roof, looking out towards the body of water dotted with steel structures. Finally, she didn't have to be peppy, as her smile thinned out into a line. She was thinking, of seemingly better days. 'Better,' she thought, 'Or more innocent?'

"I can tell when you're making that face again," a voice rang out, the silence amplifying what was otherwise a normal, speaking tone. The corner of her lips smirked upwards, as she turned around to greet the owner of the voice.

"What are you talking about?" She smiled brightly, making cute, little noises, and wagging her finger at her, as if she said something absolutely scandalous.

"Oh, you know absolutely well what I meant," she replied, crossing her arms in the meantime, "are you goin' to tell me what's on your mind?"

"You already know it, " she whispered back, as she stared back at the night sky. Looking at the stars was...comforting. Because it never changed; it flowed with the spectrum of time.

Fang looked with her-words were unnecessary- and she moved closer to Vanille, fabric of her clothes gently swaying with the motion.

"I guess I do," Fang said, placing her hand on Vanille's shoulder. Vanille felt goosebumps radiating from the touch of skin, expanding across her body, extending to her extremities. She leaned into the warmth, soothing her soul just like watching the stars above them.

She blushed when Fang brought her arms around for a hug. Vanille thought she would burst from lack of relaxation. This, what they were doing now, finally back in their village; this was solace.

There was no focus, no sense of danger and urgency at every turn. No Ragnarok can interrupt this moment of peace.

"We are home now. We have our family. Just like old times." The hug was tightened and returned, as they continued star-gazing.

They had family now, after all those years.

* * *

_They were restless, and she was irritated, but she did not mention it._

_"Target's a target," she would say, and leave it at that. She made it very clear the path before them. Fight or die, live and survive. It was basic, concise, and unemotional, just like her. Vanille pondered if that was the reason why everybody accepted her as a natural leader. She was after all, Lightning the soldier. The rest of them were merely civilians, unused to orders and leading a group, but she wasn't, and that made all the difference._

_So they flocked to her, a shepherd protecting sheep. She knew better, but was afraid to voice her true thoughts out. For the most part, she was with strangers, her supposed enemies, and what was worse was that she couldn't find her special someone. Where do they go from here? Stuck in a place full of old Pulsian machinery, it looked like a wasteland. Was it from before? She wasn't sure, as crystallization left her flopping like a fish out of the temporal pond. But she was learning something new from Cocoon every moment she was with them. They weren't too bad, l'cie or not._

_"You like to keep it simple." In her short time with the other l'cie, she took to Sazh the most. Being a little older than the rest of them, he had a lot of experience and was a natural mentor. However, he still held his anti-Pulse sentiments, and sometimes she would dodge many questions, because of it. Sometimes it was better off feigning ignorance. She already kept the team as happy as possible, right? Yet, there was still tension in the air -if not within the ragtag party- and she was frightened of the uncertainty. The likely chance that whatever rubber band on them would snap in an instant...would be coming._

_Still, Vanille said nothing. She watched and listened, especially on breaks. Because that was the time when nobody could take the silence and would strum up small talk. She noticed the soldier didn't partake in such trivials much, and distanced herself a little. She didn't want that._

_Sazh was faster than her though, and he sat down to talk with her. They were whispering, and it was getting harder and harder not to blatantly eavesdrop on the both of them._

_"No...They want a fight? Let's take it to the Sanctum's door!"_

_Sanctum? The ones in charge of Cocoon? Vanille didn't understand; wasn't the focus to save Cocoon? If they attacked the Sanctum...lives would be lost, yet again. But she didn't know how to convince Lightning. Their leader had a nasty streak of following a path and not straying from it. She wouldn't even wait for her and Sazh to take a breather. Time was of the essence to her, even if she had to cut them off because they were too slow._

_She -they- were just burdens to her._

_

* * *

_

A pair of eyes were watching them. They narrowed a bit, waiting for them to come back. To her. Observing, she stood still as the two hugged each other. That was...normal, especially for those two. Her fists tightened imperceptibly as the taller one took her sweet time in letting go of the public display of affection. Most people wouldn't call a hug that, but she considered it so.

Feh. Blue eyes stopped staring at the two woman as she checked around for the other members. She found out the significance of this building earlier today. A picture helped tipped it off, but no one else knew because they were busy getting spare parts for Vanille's pet. And it can stay that way, for all she cared.

And she did care, in her way. It's not emotional, like Vanille's, or blatant like Hope's. She was...ecstatic that her emotion showing wasn't like Snow's in any way, shape, or form. Lightning wondered if Vanille noticed. She surely did, ever since the woman liked to stare at her during their travels in Vile Peaks. Was she jealous? Surely not, no. Lightning was curious, and she would never succumb to a petty emotion such as jealousy.

She certainly wasn't clenching her fists, even after standing eighteen minutes, twenty-one seconds, right heel balancing on the thirty-fourth plank of dust-topped wood, waiting for them. But more specifically her. They needed to have a talk. She had enough of the endless whispering, the caresses of hands when they thought nobody was watching. Someone was, though, and it was time to end it. No more beating around the proverbial bush; that simply wasn't her style.

"Thank you," she heard Vanille say to the other woman, as she led her back into the warmth of the building, hands touching once again. They stopped once they saw who was waiting.

"Have you been waitin' long, Sunshine?"

Ahh, so she had noticed. That made it easier. Uncrossing her legs, Lightning leaned foward from the wall, and stood like a proud wolf. Her eyes narrowed once again as Fang wrapped an arm around her. She was more interested in Vanille.

"I need to talk to Vanille."

"Whatever you say, you can do it in front of both of us." And with that, Fang issued her challenge. She already had the upper-hand, with her already close, and possessing. She was asserting her territory. Will the ex-soldier back down? Vanille, on the other hand, looked confused as her eyes went from assessing Fang to Lightning, back to Fang again. She rather felt like the butt of someone's joke here.

"Fang..."

"Give us some privacy. It's important." Lightning interrupted. She crossed her arms, and shot a deadly glare to Fang's arm which was hanging over Vanille's shoulders.

"No."

"Fang!"

"What, we're family, aren't we? She can tell me too."

Lightning was gritting her teeth. How dare she humiliate her, in front of Vanille, no less. But at the word of "family", she was beat. Yes, she was starting to consider them as such, but she was crossing the line here! Family or not, she will best Fang at her own damn game.

Charging right up to Fang's personal space, it looked as if Light was going for a punch. But it never came. Eyebrows furrowed, Light spat out, "Fine," before turning to Vanille.

"Do you like me?"

Vanille gasped in surprise, and Fang was not amused that she did. Her eyebrows furrowed, as she sent Lightning a glare in return. How dare this...Cocoon soldier lay claim before her? She knew Vanille first. She knew her longer. They were soulmates, and if she thought she can take her away from Oerba Yun Fang, then Lightning had another thing coming.

"What are you talkin' about, Farron?"

"I'm asking if Vanille likes me."

"She doesn't."

"How would you know?" Lightning's hand strayed to the hilt of her Helter-Skelter. If this got physical, then so be it. Fighting was what she did best, after all. It might be more difficult, seeing that it was Fang she was fighting. In response, Fang's free hand was unlatching her Glaive from its holster.

"Stop it you two!" Vanille had to quickly diffuse the situation, before it got ugly. And it definitely looked like a fight was about to happen. Over her, of all things. What a way to ruin a peaceful evening so far. It was better than answering Lightning's question, though. She misunderstood the stares -sure she found herself ogling at the soldier from time to time - but that shouldn't mean anything...right?

Noting their proximity, Vanille quickly came up with an idea.

"No Vanille. Just tell her you don't like her...in that way."

"Stop telling her what to say, Fang."

Both women were sending each other death glares, and Lightning was about to make the first move when...her lips were on Fang's.

"There. Isn't it nice to get it out of your systems?" Vanille had both of her hands on the backs of Fang and Light's heads, respectively, and only made her move when either one of them were about to strike first. She was going to pay for it, but if they ended up not fighting, then that was the goal all along.

The looks they were giving her were ranging from scandalized to furious to devious. Oh great, now they were nodding to each other, not even paying her any mind. When they did, Fang was the first to speak, sugary-sweet tone dripping off her lips.

"Vanille."

Should she run for it? Wait, it was Fang and Light; she didn't stand much of a chocobo's chance against an Adamantoise. She slowly backed away...until she met Light's chest. True to her name, she was lightning fast. Oh this wasn't going to be good.

"I say we teach her a lesson, Fang."

"For once, I agree."

"Yes, teach her not to mess with the both of us." Vanille turned around facing Fang, but the moment she did, Lightning captured her arms.

"I think we can share...for one night. Isn't that right, Sunshine?"

"I'm willing if you're willing."

Then again, this might turn out to be a very good night as Light kissed her shoulder blade as Fang leaned in to fondle her breasts.

-FIN-


End file.
